Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen Laughs as he visits with people attending a luncheon in his honor. the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen, right, and Bishop Kevin Vann embrace as the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen answers reporter’s questions during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017 as the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen, right, enters with Bishop Kevin Vann the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Father Benjamin Tran of St. Anne’s Seal Beach records Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen during his introduction speech as the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen is congratulated by a well wisher during a luncheon in his honor. The Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen pauses before taking his seat the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An iPhone records Bishop Kevin Vann introducing Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen Laughs as he visits with people attending a luncheon in his honor. the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen gently touches his fingertips together as he addresses questions from reporters as the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bishop Elect Than Thai Nguyen poses for pictures as the Diocese of Orange names Nguyen their new auxiliary bishop during a press conference at Christ Cathedral in Orange, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017. Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who escaped by boat after communist takeover. (Photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Both have 10 siblings. Both escaped Vietnam’s oppressive communist regime, by boat.

Cao, pastor of Saint Anthony Claret Catholic Church in Anaheim, was one of about 100 people — clergy, community and media — gathered at Christ Cathedral to hear the formal announcement of Nguyen’s appointment.

He said he was thrilled to welcome the new bishop to the diocese, which is home to 1.3 million Catholics, about 100,000 of whom are of Vietnamese descent.

“The connection that he is going to have with the Vietnamese diaspora in Orange County, the largest outside of Vietnam, is going to be powerful because of the commonality of our experiences,” Cao said.

News of Nguyen’s appointment came from the Vatican early morning Friday, but Nguyen said he was informed Sept. 27.

“I was so shocked,” he said. “I was trembling, my head was spinning. I wasn’t myself for a few days.”

Nguyen, 64, who has served at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Jacksonville, Fla., drew a lot of laughs from the gathering with his self-deprecating wit and easy disposition.

“Leadership is the ability to hide your panic from others,” he said of his effort to keep his appointment a secret for several days.

The Most Rev. Kevin Vann, bishop of Orange, who announced Nguyen’s appointment at the Christ Cathedral, said the appointment came directly from Pope Francis with recommendations from him and other church leaders.

“(Nguyen) brings a great deal of experience as a pastor and working with diverse communities,” he said.

The role of the auxiliary bishop in a diocese is primarily to assist the bishop with pastoral care and administration. Timothy Freyer, a Huntington Beach native, was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Orange Jan. 18.

Nguyen will be the diocese’s second Vietnamese auxiliary bishop. Dominic Luong, the diocese’s first Vietnamese bishop, retired in January 2016, but was in attendance at Friday’s gathering.

Vann said he hasn’t spoken with Nguyen about the specifics of his job, but believes he will be very much involved with the Vietnamese Catholic community.

He also expects Nguyen will guide the construction of the Lady of La Vang shrine at Christ Cathedral, a project undertaken by community members in honor of the Marian apparition believed to have blessed persecuted Catholics in Vietnam during the turn of the 19th century.

A date for Nguyen’s ordination has not yet been set, Vann said.

Nguyen was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and spent most of his elementary education in Catholic schools. In 1966, he entered St. Joseph Seminary, a small diocesan institute in Vietnam.

His seminary education was interrupted by the communist government takeover of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. He and other seminarians found themselves forced into hard labor in the rice fields just to be able to continue their studies.

In 1979, Nguyen, along with 26 members of his extended family, boarded a 28-foot motorboat that left Cam Ranh Bay for the Philippines. The group spent 18 harrowing days at sea –several of them with no food or water — and were ambushed by a tropical storm.

“Every day we were at sea, we prayed the Rosary,” he said. “If not for God, where could we have found the strength to survive that journey?”

After spending 10 months in a refugee camp in the Philippines, Nguyen and his family came to Beaumont, Texas, in June 1980. He continued his education, graduated from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and was ordained in 1991.

“I love parish life,” he said. “I find it both challenging and rewarding.”

Nguyen said despite his own refugee experience, helping lead a large diaspora of Vietnamese Catholics is going to be new and different.

“My goal is always to unite people of different backgrounds, bring the flock together,” said Nguyen, whose parish in Florida offers services in English, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish.

The bishop-elect’s speech was touching, said Elizabeth Nguyen, who chairs the committee raising funds for the La Vang shrine.

“Because of his experience as a refugee, he can connect with my parents’ and grandparents’ generation,” she said. “But, because he has worked with other communities, he can also relate to my generation and my daughter’s generation.”

Deepa Bharath covers religion for The Orange County Register and the Southern California Newspaper Group. Her work is focused on how religion, race and ethnicity shape our understanding of what it is to be American and how religion in particular helps influence public policies, laws and a region's culture. Deepa also writes about race, cultures and social justice issues. She has covered a number of other beats ranging from city government to breaking news for the Register since May 2006. She has received fellowships from the International Women's Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists to report stories about reconciliation, counter-extremism and peace-building efforts around the world. When she is not working, she loves listening to Indian classical music and traveling with her husband and son.

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